Cromwell Chronicle
by catcromwell
Summary: Catherine Cromwell is a jaded girl. She is pure-blooded in the generation after the war for pure-blood supremacy was lost. Off to Hogwarts with Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, her generation faces a new threat, the annihilation of Earth.


Prologue

Vivian Galloway was a woman of average height and a stern disposition. Her family had instilled upon her the core value that she must be presentable, no matter the circumstance. It was therefore no surprise that when awoken by the floo at 3a.m and subsequently summoned to the ministry, she took the time to put on clean robes, shoes, and put her dark hair up in a bun. Before she left she took the time to send a light sleeping spell on her seven year old son

The Atrium of the Ministry of Magic was fairly deserted at three a.m. Vivian took it all in with her shrewd gray eyes, both out of curiosity and because she needed a moment to compose herself. The Atrium itself was a long, splendid hall with a polished, dark wooden floor. On either side of the hall were numerous gilded fireplaces, set into walls of dark paneled wood up to the ceiling, which was a peacock blue with its ever-changing golden symbols. Halfway down the hall was a huge fountain of an old man with a bowed head and a phoenix on his shoulder, and the inscription "Let there be peace".

Vivian resisted the urge to snort at the overt reference to her former Headmaster and the Order of the Phoenix. She had just been finishing her sixth year during the time of the battle of Hogwarts, and as a Ravenclaw prefect she had helped guide the younger years to safety rather than fight in a battle where she knew at least some of her family was on the side of the Dark Lord.

Vivian made her way through the golden gates at the end of the lifts and to the cranky Auror at the lift. "Hello Leo" she greeted Auror Leonard Bates who often partnered with her husband. Though he always appeared slightly grungy, tonight he looked especially miserable.

"'Lo Mrs. Galloway. I'm to take you up to the DMLE Family Services Division" he stated, and gestured for her to get into a lift.

It was perhaps the quietest, most nerve-racking elevator ride of Vivian's life. Leo's inability to make eye-contact did not entirely help. He was usually fairly conversational at any occasion that she had been around him in the past.

He escorted her through the twisting and turning hallways until they finally arrived at the Family Services Division, which tried to project a feeling of friendliness with its posters of all sorts of families in the library. Vivian took note that the muggle family poster most accurately depicted a family from several decades ago.

Her husband Rob stood in the lobby, still in Auror robes. They were slightly singed, which with the way Vivian suspected the night was going to go, was not a good sign.

"What happened?" she demanded of her husband.

Rob turned to her, running a hand nervously through his short brown hair. His brown eyes were weary and anxious, and the lines beginning to form on his face seemed to have deepened in the hours since Vivian had seen him last.

"There was a raid on your parent's house. It was fairly routine, and we were merely following a tip-off from a member of the community that there were dark objects in the house. None of us thought…" he trailed of for a moment, and then seemed to gather some courage together.

"Your father was entertaining guests. Rabastan LeStrange and Denison Burke have both been on wanted lists for decades, we never dreamed that they would be at a dinner party in your parent's mansion. It turned messy Viv. We managed to call for back-up and finally took your grandfather and his guests down, but not before there were casualties. Two Aurors are dead and-" he swallowed hard "-and your brother and his wife didn't make it." Vivian felt her world begin to crumble, the perfect world where even though her parents had disowned her when she married Rob, a muggle-born, her brother came to visit her. "Neither did Aries. He was only twelve and he couldn't escape the curses and protect his sister at the same time. He died saving his sister, Catherine is still alive. We're her only locatable family at the moment. She's to come home with us." He finished.

Vivian sat down in the nearest seat, feeling numb. "Viv?" Rob asked, worried about her lack of reaction.

"Get the girl. I want to go home." She said hollowly.

Rob looked uneasy, but went through a door and collected his niece. Catherine Cromwell shared the same dark hair as her Aunt, though her eyes were green instead of gray. At nine years old she was a small girl with a delicate build. Vivian hated her almost instantly, as her proud stature even at nine indicated perfect pure-blood breeding, though at the moment the state of her dress did not.

Vivian stood up after her inspection of the girl. "Come girl. You are to live with me now. It's late, you are to come home with me and go straight to sleep."

Catherine turned her green eyes upon her Aunt, wary and reminding Vivian of her father's constant judging stare. It was a stare that she had hoped never to see again.


End file.
